New Beginnings
by Lithium Suicide
Summary: What if Amu’s charas had already hatched before she transferred to Seiyo Academy? Maybe things would have turned out different, or maybe even the same... but with a twist
1. A fresh start, it's not that bad

**Chapter One: A fresh start, it's not as bad as you think**

Through another's eyes it might seem she walked ahead bravely, not at all hesitant about her first day as the new transfer student. Rather contrary to that, Hinamori Amu's heart beat rapidly and she was on the verge of hyperventilation.

"Go, Go, Amu-chan!" cheered a small, fairy-sized girl while waving around two pink pom-poms.

"This is a fresh start Amu-chan, I get the feeling you will be able to become your true-self, desu!" reassured another tiny girl, this time with a cute, green dress, similar to a maid's outfit.

"C'mon Amu-chan!" called out a blue-haired girl.

"Be quiet! Ran! Suu! Miki! You're distracting me! And it probably looks like I'm talking to myself too!" huffed Amu as she hurried along the foreign corridors to her new classroom.

She gulped.

In a few minutes she would have to face a whole class of new people, what should she do?! How was she meant to act?!

She reached the door. Amu checked the sign above it, this was the right room. Amu's hand shook as she placed it on the door handle.

"_This is it"_ she thought.

"Now, please let me introduce you to the new transfer student" she heard the homeroom teacher announce on the other side.

She could hear everyone shuffle in the seats with anticipation, all incredibly curious about the new person about to join their class.

"_Well, here goes nothing"_

She slid open the door and walked calmly into the room. At least she hoped it looked like she was calm. She stood at the front of the class, and started to freak out as she felt the pressure of many eyes staring holes in her.

The teacher had written her name in kanji on the board behind her.

"Why don't you say hello, Hinamori-san" her sensei requested politely.

"_You can do it, Amu-chan!"_ her three shugo charas said to themselves.

She stared blankly at the many faces in front of her.

"Uh, so hey, what's up?" was the first thing that came out of Amu's mouth.

"Uwaaah! How cool!" the class exclaimed with sparkly-eyes.

"She looks so fashionable! Look at how she wears her clothes! Definitely cool and spicy!"

She guessed they took her impassive face for that of a confident, casual person, but underneath emotion were flying around like tornado. She was incredibly nervous, shy, worried and frightened of what everyone would think of her.

But once again they had only seen her outside character, and thought her to be the 'cool and spicy', Hinamori Amu.

Amu took her seat slightly dejectedly, not letting much of it show on the outside. Once again, she was unable to act as her true-self, and had to hide behind a pretend model of someone who she never was, and never could be.

--

Amu dropped her bag down and slid down the wall she was leaning on. She looked at the dismally at the ground. This was not how she wanted her first day of her new school to be like. It was meant to be a fresh start.

She sighed.

"Awww don't be sad Amu-chan! You will get plenty of other chances to be yourself!" Ran attempted to comfort her.

She leaned back against the cold, brick wall and closed her eyes.

She sighed again.

But rather unceremoniously her moping was ended by a large hoard of girls shrieking and bustling around something a short distance away.

"What's going on over there?" She asked her charas.

They all shrugged and Amu pushed herself up and went to join the crowd.

The throng of girls was thick, and Amu was stuck around the back, not able to see a thing. She was about to give up and walk away when a voice called her name.

"Oh! It's you, Amu-san"

Amu jumped slightly and turned around quickly, nervous to know who had called out to her. She recognised the unknown caller as another girl in her class. Amu couldn't for the life of her remember the girl's name though.

"Hey... what's going on here?" she demanded. She inwardly kicked herself for becoming her 'outside character' again.

"Oh, you wouldn't know because you just transferred here, would you? All the girls are crowding around the cutest guy in school, Hotori Tadase! He's in the king's chair of the Guardians!" she informed Amu before pushing a few girls out of the way to try and clear a path for herself and Amu.

"Guardians…?" Amu muttered confusedly.

"The Guardians," Amu's classmate explained, "are a group of the most talented students in the school! Their job is to make it a better place for all students! They organise events and drink tea in the royal garden. Everyone looks up to them"

"Ah right"

Amu tried to sound like this was nothing new, but the Guardians intrigued her. What were they like? They certainly sounded like amazing people, to get this much of a reaction from everyone.

They continued to make their way through the crowd and just above the noise of it all Amu could hear her charas crying out when they were squashed between people or were accidently whacked by someone's arm. These were the perils of being small and non-existent to most humans.

"There's too many people, desu!" complained Suu while protecting her head with her arms.

A few moments later the two girls and three charas had finally pushed their way through to the front, and Amu saw really why all the girls were so excited.

He had got to be the cutest guy she had ever laid eyes on! She felt a light blush come upon her cheeks by just looking at him!

"So that's Hotori Tadase… the King's chair…"

King's chair suited him well. He most definitely looked like a prince!

Ran, Miki and Suu were also staring at him in awe.

Tadase smiled at their general direction and practically all the girls in their area swooned, almost including Amu herself.

After a few minutes most the girls had stared at Tadase enough, and the crowds dwindled.

Amu and her name-still-unknown classmate began to walk away as well.

"What did you think of him, Amu-san?"

"A-ah, he was nothing special." She crossed her arms and turned her head in the opposite direction.

"Definitely 'cool and spicy' Hinamori Amu!"

--

Amu collapsed onto her bed, and groaned into her mattress.

"I didn't act my character at all!"

"Don't worry Amu-chan, this was only the first day, don't be so hard on yourself" Miki reassured her.

"But first impressions are the ones that last!" Amu argued back.

"Amu-chan is being stubborn again…"

"Am NOT!"

Her charas merely rolled their eyes.

Amu turned over in her bed.

"_Well, it wasn't really THAT bad when you think about… at least I didn't do anything embarrassing. Or character-change at the wrong moment…"_

Amu yawned, and lent over her bed to switch off the light. Ran, Miki and Suu went to go sleep inside their eggs.

"_A fresh start… I guess it's not as bad as I though it would be…"_


	2. A Promise

**A/N:** in this chapter, I tried to make some things like the original series, but I couldn't quite remember what exactly happened, so some things may be a little off :) Thanks for the reviews and adding this story to your alerts/favourites! It makes me happy!! 3

**Chapter Two: A Promise**

Hotori Tadase walked along the wide path leading into the main entry of Seiyo Academy. He sighed as he heard the tell-tale squeals of fangirls up ahead.

He often wondered why every girl always liked him so much. What about himself was so great anyway? Tadase had a certain hate for being asked out all the time, he didn't have the heart to reject all those girls, and had to chara-change with Kiseki every time.

Tadase merely stared blankly ahead as the girly shrieks became louder.

He mentally braced himself for the onslaught of fangirling when his vision was drawn towards one person in particular. Walking not far ahead of him, was a pink-haired girl with an expression almost as impassive as Tadase's. She didn't seem to like the other screaming schoolgirls that much either.

But that was not what had caught his attention.

What did was that she had not one, but three floating characters around her head.

"_She must be the one!"_ Tadase realise with a start, remembering the words of the founder of the Guardians.

'_When you meet a girl with three guardian characters, give her the Humpty Lock. The lock will then belong to her…'_

He ran forward to catch up to the girl. Tadase put his hand on her shoulder to get her attention.

"Um, excuse me!" he said slightly shyly to her.

Hinamori Amu gasped when she turned and saw who wanted her attention.

It was none other than the prince himself, Hotori Tadase.

"_aieee!! Tadase-kun wants to talk to me! What do I do?!" _she panicked to herself.

Her charas seemed just as surprised by the young prince's sudden appearance, and hovered silently as they watched the scene unfold.

Internally Amu was, for the second day in a row, nearly hyperventilating. Though at this point Amu's 'cool and spicy' exterior seemed to be in control while her inside self freaked out.

"What do you want?" she asked blatantly.

Tadase stared blankly when he realised he had no idea what he actually wanted to say. He also should probably inform the other Guardians before acting on his own. This girl was the person they had been waiting for, and having her join the Guardians was of utmost importance.

"…"

"If you have nothing to say, then leave me alone. Stop acting like we're buddies or something"

She slapped his hand away and started walking away from him.

Amu screamed inside her head _"Ahh! NOOOO! My prince! How could I do that!! Stupid! Stupid!!"_

Amu continued to berate herself for freezing up like that, and also for acting as her outside self.

"_Why does that always happen?! Whenever there's a chance for me, I can never be who I really want to be…!"_

"Amu-chan, you shouldn't be bothered by what others will think of you, just act yourself, desu!" her maid-like chara comforted. Suu was the sweet and caring character, and disliked seeing Amu being so depressed about the way she acts. The only reason the three shugos were here was because of Amu's want to change, but it appeared she wasn't going to anytime soon with her current demeanour.

"I really wanted to Suu, but I was so nervous, my mind went blank and that was the best I could say"

Amu's shoulders sagged low and her quick pace decreased to a depressed trudge.

"You have to try first before you can give up. If you have an attitude like that, you really never will change!" Miki said, voicing the trail of thought Suu had a moment ago.

"If you can't believe in yourself, it means that you can't believe in us, and we will fade away…"

Her three charas looked at Amu with sad eyes, but eyes also filled with worry and hope for Amu.

Amu looked at her characters, her would-be selves. Miki was right; these three were a part of her! How can she really change if she didn't believe that she could in the first place! She stopped walking altogether and clenched her fists.

"Okay! Next time, I definitely won't give in!" she said defiantly.

"That's the spirit, Amu-chan! Gooooo!" rooted the little pink cheerleader, waving her pompoms vigorously above her head. Miki and Suu nodded their heads in approval.

"Even if people think I'm acting strange" she promised, "and even if you do an embarrassing character-change with me, I'll become my would-be self!"

Amu was slightly nervous at mentioning character-changing, most the time it always ended up going very wrong and further giving people the incorrect idea about herself. The charas seemed very happy at the thought of being able to chara-change and not to get into trouble from Amu.

Just as the promise was made, the bell began ringing signalling to all the students that break was over, and class would begin once more.

Amu hurried along her classroom, but with a light step, feeling a lot better at what the future may hold.

--

**A/N:** This chapter was a bit short, sorry! I was going to write more, but I decided I am going to put the rest into the next chapter. Thankyou for reading this far


	3. Meeting with the Guardians

**A/N:** Time for the next chapter! I noticed that when writing, I rarely describe what the characters look like and are wearing, and also what the scenery is like. So here I tried to explain more. Please enjoy!

**Chapter Three: A Meeting with the Guardians**

Amu sat slouched at her desk, worrying about the Prince hating her. He probably did, after the way she so brashly treated him yesterday.

"Hinamori-san?"

She had been avoiding him all day._ "I guess there is something good about not being in any of his classes…"_ Amu thought idly. It was the last class before lunch break, mathematics. She wasn't really listening to what the teacher was droning on about, instead her attentions was casually focused on the green grounds of the school outside the window.

"Hinamori-san!"

"_Huh…? Did someone say my name? I wasn't really listening…"_ Amu looked away slightly sleepily from the window to find who was asking of her attention. Suddenly, without any warning from the cheerleading chara, her usual 'X' shaped clips were replaced with bright pink hearts.

"The answer is 9, sir!!" She practically leapt out of the chair and brightly gave the answer with a winning smile.

"Well, it seems you were indeed listening, albeit a little slow at answering" her teacher smoothly replied.

A few giggles were heard from around the classroom.

As her accessories popped back into their normal appearance, an embarrassed blush came across her face. Though she did give the right answer, the eagerness definitely wasn't her 'cool and spicy' character!

Amu sat down awkwardly as the class stared, surprised by her unexpected actions.

"_That was weird; Hinamori never acts like that…"_

"_Who's that cheerful when answering a math problem?"_

Amu looked down at the desk. _"Now they think I'm weird… but that's a lot closer to my real personality than the cold exterior that they think is the real me."_

She gathered her courage and looked up, this was what she wanted! She didn't want to pretend to be someone else.

A few students nearby were watching her, so Amu just looked at them plainly and gave them a quick smile. Caught of guard by her reaction, they turned around back to their work.

She lifted up her textbook to cover her mouth.

"Thanks, Ran" she whispered to the floating girl, "but next time don't make me jump out of my seat"

Ran sweat-dropped and rubbed the back of her head nervously.

"Hehe, I can't help it!"

Miki and Suu merely shook their heads at the pink chara's lively personality.

Amu decided that she might actually start paying attention to the teacher when the class was interrupted by a polite knock at the door.

"Excuse me, Sir" greeted a beautiful girl with long, indigo hair that was tied back with a red ribbon.

"I have to deliver something to a student in this class, I won't take a moment longer than is needed" she courteously said.

"O-of course, Nadeshiko-san" the mathematics teacher replied, slightly surprised by her appearance.

Amu wondered what the fuss was all about when she overheard the whispers of the surrounding students.

"_That's Fujisaki Nadeshiko-sama, the Queen's chair of the Guardians!"_

"_Guardians? What was someone from the Guardians doing here?"_ Amu marvelled, _"and what does she have to deliver?"_

"Amu-chan!" her characters addressed her "we can sense another Shugo Chara nearby! We think it's with that Nadeshiko girl"

"Huh?"

_Another Shugo Chara?_

Suddenly Amu was brought back from her trail of thought when Nadeshiko stopped right beside her desk.

"You are Hinamori-san, correct?" she asked while gazing at Amu with her chocolate-brown eyes. A light-hearted smile was on her face.

"A-ah, yes!" Amu sat up straight quickly. _"Another Guardian is talking to me?! What do I do!?"_

"This is for you"

The navy-haired girl passed Amu a clear white envelope with a wax seal across the opening.

Amu took the note from her hand, and just stared at it, no idea what to say in return.

"I'll be going now. Thank-you for your time"

She walked elegantly out from the classroom, and gently closed the sliding door behind her.

Immediately whispers and rumours started going around the room, but Amu was too lost to have any interest in them. She continued to stare at the letter in her hand.

The teacher ahemmed.

"Let us continue the lesson. When working out the square root of…"

She heard no more, as more important subjects were on her mind right now.

What was in this letter? Did that girl, Nadeshiko, really have a Shugo Chara? And also, who really were the Guardians?

- - - - - -

It was after class and students wondered around the school grounds, talking and interacting with everyone else. There was the usual air of friendly chatter as Amu held the message from the Guardians with apprehension.

The wax seal broke as the letter was opened.

Amu and her charas held their breaths as Amu unfolded the letter and began to read its contents.

_To Hinamori Amu,_

_The Guardians request your presence at the Royal Garden after school._

_We look forward to meeting you._

"A meeting?" Suu questioned with her high-pitched voice.

Amu continued to stare at the note, before refolding it and placing it back in the letter it came from. She slipped the letter into her right pocket.

"You're going to go, right Amu?" Miki also asked Amu, trying to get some sort of reply from the speechless girl.

"I- I don't know…"

"You don't really have a choice, you know. If the Guardians want y-"

Ran was cut off as Miki and Suu floated up behind her and covered her loud mouth with their hands. Ran was not helping the situation. Curse her honesty.

Amu simply sighed in reply, and gazed up at the sky, like somehow the answer would descend from the heavens.

"Well, I guess I'm going…"

"Mnoh nmay mhn"

Ran's mouth was still closed off by the two other charas offending hands. They quickly let go of the pink one and began wiping their hands on their clothes in disgust, as Ran had just deposited a nice amount of saliva onto their palms.

"What I was _trying_ to say was: Don't think of it like that. A meeting with the Guardians? This is the perfect chance for you to get closer to your Prince!"

"But he hates me, remember?" Amu said downcast.

"You don't know that! You've been avoiding him all day, remember?" Ran replied, twisting Amu's word right back at her.

"_Is this annoying thing seriously a part of me?"_ Amu thought exasperated.

"Fine. We'll go and see what happens." Amu then commenced walking away from the three charas.

"Yay! Let's a-go-go!" the mini cheerleader shrieked, and began drifting after Amu.

Although Miki and Suu disapproved of their pink friend's methods, it definitely worked in getting Amu to go along.

They looked at each other, shook their heads, and also started to follow after the two pink-heads.

- - - - - -

Amu nervously fiddled with her shirt as she walked closer to the large entrance of the Royal Garden. Her charas were giving her support but Amu wasn't paying them much attention at the moment.

"_Why am I always so nervous about everything?! This is the third day in a row…"_

She paused briefly at the glass door, and was reminded of her first day here at Seiyo Academy.

"_Just gotta do the same thing… take a deep breath and make the plunge…"_

"C'mon Amu-chan!!"

"Be quiet and I will!"

"Oh, sorry"

"It's alright"

"Stop delaying, you two" Miki huffed, rather unimpressed.

"Right" Amu and Ran both said in unison.

Amu grabbed the handle and quickly, almost forcefully opened the glass door.

What met her eyes was a sight that Amu thought she would never forget.

What lay inside the building was a beautiful garden, with a large variety of flowering plants, their colours mixing into one another making a palette of every colour in the rainbow. A pale brick path leads into the centre of the garden, and gentle light filtered into the room giving everything a cheery glow to it. Amu wondered why she ever dreaded entering an amazing place like this, when she remembered that she was here to meet the Guardians.

Her anxiety returned, though not quite as bad as it was just outside; this garden certainly had a calming effect on her.

The Royal Garden also seemed to have the same effect on Ran, Miki and Suu, as all three charas were smiling happily and enjoying the landscape around them.

Amu hadn't noticed, but her legs seemed to have moved subconsciously, and she suddenly found herself in the middle of the garden, near a white table large enough for five maybe even six people to sit around comfortably.

But for all the wonderful surroundings, the people that were sitting at the table made her heart jump. Mainly a certain 'Prince' in particular.

"U-um, excuse me…" Amu began.

"Ah, Hinamori-san," greeted Tadase, "Welcome, to the Royal Garden!"

Amu glanced awkwardly at everyone, not sure on what exactly she should do. It was then that she noticed that each of the Guardians had a Shugo Chara floating near their shoulders.

"_What…? They all have Shugo Chara?? Even Tadase-kun has a chara??"_

"Let us introduce ourselves," Tadase started, "I am Hotori Tadase, King's Chair. This is my Shugo Chara Kiseki"

Kiseki nodded in the general direction of Amu and her chara, signalling that he noticed them.

"Oh! Oh! I'm Yuiki Yaya! Ace chair!! This is Pepe-chan!!" a young girl with brown pig-tails called out, all while waving her arms ecstatically. A baby-like Shugo Chara was snoozing on her head.

"I'm Souma Kuukai, Jack's Chair. That guy over there is Daichi" Kuukai stated with a large grin spread across his face. His chara had exactly the same grin across his own features as well.

"My name is Fujisaki Nadeshiko, Queen's position. This is Temari." Nadeshiko was as polite as usual. Temari just hid her mouth behind a part of her kimono and giggled girlishly.

"_Should I introduce myself as well?!"_ Amu flustered.

"Um, I'm-"

"It's alright, we already know who you are, Hinamori Amu-san" Nadeshiko interrupted Amu's stuttering.

"She's so shy, it's adorable!" cooed Yaya. Amu just looked at the ground embarrassed.

"But why don't you introduce your characters to us, Hinamori-san?" Tadase asked her, with a light smile on his face.

"_Tadase-kun is so cute when he smiles like that… wait, no! NO thinking about that at a time like this!!"_

"Ah, this here is Ran," Amu mentioned towards the cheerleading chara, who waved her miniature pompoms around, and smiled brightly, "This is Miki," Miki simply waved her hand once, and her expression remained somewhat blank as usual, "and this is Suu" Amu finally finished, as Suu sweetly smiled and waved happily.

"It is nice to meet you all" Tadase pleasantly said, rather formally, "though we did ask you to join us here for more than introductions. Hinamori-san, we would like you to become a member of the Guardians"

Amu was dumbstruck, even though this thought had occurred to her; she never _really_ thought that the Guardians would actually want her. It didn't take long for her to come to an answer to the request, however. Amu knew that she wouldn't want to become Guardian, as Amu just wanted to be an ordinary girl. If she was a Guardian it would bring too much attention to herself.

"_I just want to be normal…"_

Right as Amu began to open her mouth to answer, she was interrupted by a sudden, loud explosion of sound.

Immediately and simultaneously all the Guardians were on their feet and vigilant.

"What was that?!" exclaimed Kuukai, voicing what everyone was thinking.

"LOUD!" complained Yaya, covering her ears with her hands. Pepe was also doing the same.

"Let's go!" Tadase commanded, and started running outside of the Garden, Kiseki in trail not far behind him.

The rest of the Guardians and their charas swiftly followed suit. So did Amu and her character trio, although slightly reluctantly.

The Guardians and Amu didn't have to run far to find what the cause of the disturbance was. Not far ahead of them three black objects floated in the air, vile purple-coloured energy swirling around them. An unnatural screeching sound was coming from the things, which was obviously the origin of the blast earlier.

Amu gasped, "Those are…"

"X-eggs." finished Tadase solemnly.

- - - - - -

**A/N:** Slight cliff-hanger! I hope you like what I done here, just trying to make the story more interesting :) The next chapter is going to have some interesting changes in it, so it's not just the usual X-egg battle (at least I hopes it's gonna turn out interesting)

Please review! It makes me very happy!


	4. My Own Heart, Unlock!

**Chapter Four: My own heart, Unlock!**

"HOLY CROWN!" cried Tadase, as a dark X-egg threw a surge of power in his general direction. Bright gold met the deathly purple, and both attacks were dispelled.

While Tadase faced-off with that X-Egg, the rest of the Guardians handled the remaining two.

"Shin, Ton, Shan" Temari said sweetly, before her and her owner underwent a character change. Nadeshiko all of a sudden had a murderous glint in her eyes, and she wielded a large spear-like weapon.

"You're going down!!" she shouted at one of the X-eggs before charging at it with a loud war cry.

Meanwhile Yaya swung an oversized rattle, and Kuukai kicked soccer balls at such a speed they were actually flaming.

"We should help the Guardians too, Amu-chan!" Ran cried in Amu's ear.

"T-They look like they're handling the situation f-fine…" Amu stuttered, she didn't particularly want to get involved with the… what were they called? X-eggs, that's right.

Amu remembered fighting one of those things before, when only Ran and Miki had hatched, and Suu remained asleep in her egg. Then she had no idea what in the world was going on, but during the battle with the X-egg, something had awoken from inside of her…

"Ah!" Nadeshiko called out when a particularly large blast of dark energy hit her, and sent her sliding along the ground, her weapon discarded to the side.

"Nadeshiko-chan!" cried out Yaya. In the moment Yaya turned to look at Nadeshiko, the offending X-egg used her distraction to launch an attack at the unaware girl. Yaya was propelled backwards through the air, and landed with an unkind thump on the hard earth.

"W-WAAAAHH!!" Yaya and her chara bawled just like a little babies.

Kuukai grunted as a couple of large spherical X-egg energy attacks connected with his abdomen, driving him into the ground to join his two comrades.

Tadase continued on standing up to the X-egg, as both their attacks kept on cancelling each other out. Suddenly the X-eggs stopped their assault, and flew out of reach into the sky.

With a 'POP' the three X-eggs hatched, and became the vile X-characters.

Nadeshiko, Yay and Kuukai were just recovering from the previous attack when the X-characters started to build up their force for another onslaught.

"Useless!" the three X-charas chanted, sounding like a ghostly choir.

"Dreams are… USELESS!" with the final word a blast larger and more powerful than any previous attack was unleashed on the almost-beaten Guardians.

Tadase discharged his Holy Crown shield, but against the combined power of the three X-charas, the shield was breached and shattered into tiny golden fragments that faded out into nothing.

"_T-They're too powerful… But I can't be beaten like this!"_ Tadase's expression turned serious as he prepared himself for the next wave, but it never came…

- - - - - -

An azure-haired teenager sat on the higher branches of a nearby tree, watching the little Guardians 'play around' with the X-eggs. They seemed to just hold their own, that was until the eggs hatched into the deathly X-charas. The X-charas clung together and united their attacks causing it to be too powerful to block with a simple shield.

He watched seemingly nonchalantly, like he was watching a plain game of bowls.

"The Guardians are getting beaten real good, nya" commented a Shugo Chara. The character had the same navy hair as his owner, but upon his head were cat-like ears and a thin tail was curled up in the air. He surveyed the scene before him with almond eyes.

"Hmm" was the answer he got from his owner. The kitty-chara didn't really seem too bothered with the lack of reply.

The battle began to turn ugly as the little King's shield was broken through. There would be no way he could block another attack.

"Well, I guess we should interrupt. We are, after all, meant to clean up these X-eggs." The boy stood up easily on the branch, he didn't even have to use his hands. He continued to walk along the branch perfectly as if it was flat ground. You could notice a pair of ears and tail on him just like his Shugo Chara.

"Let's go, Ikuto"

"My own heart, unl-" but before he could finish the words that cued the transformation, Ikuto was cut off. It seemed that someone else had already beaten him to it.

- - - - - -

"_The Guardians, they're being beaten!"_ Amu stood their wide eyed. Their attacks had been pretty good, but in the end they were out-powered by the malevolent force of the X-characters.

Amu felt a strange pull inside of her, just like the fist time she encountered an X-egg. It was the feeling of wanting to help, and not to stand there and be weak or to give the cold-shoulder of her outer character.

Her body moved without Amu consciously realizing it, and like the former time the words just came out of her mouth without even thinking.

"My own heart, Unlock!" she commanded, while her hands made a swift motion over her chest, near her heart. A warm sensation spread through her limbs and body as the transformation took place. A welcoming pink light surrounded Amu as her clothes changed and turned into that resembling a cheerleader. A clear visor was around her head, and her hair was pulled into a side pony-tail and held up by a bright heart-shaped clasp. The chequered legwarmers of her uniform were now a light pink, and on her feet she wore joggers, which were of course, also pink.

"Character Transformation: Athletic Heart!" Amu and Ran called out together, their voices as one.

Amu felt her feet connect with the ground and she pushed off, sending her flying into the sky as if she was weightless.

An X-egg attack was rushing towards Tadase, he steadied himself, but something intercepted the attack before it reached him.

Tadase thought he was dreaming when he saw an entirely pink-clad girl block the blast, but after a few moments of confusion he realised who the person was.

"_It's Hinamori-san… In a Character Transformation!?"_

He stared surprised at her; Tadase hadn't seen a full Character-Transformation. The closest he got was a Character Change.

It was an interesting change to see Amu in something pink and frilly compared to the punk-styled manner she wore her uniform. But it wasn't just her appearance that was different; it was the air about her. She seemed confident and sure of herself, strong and straightforward.

Amu held out two cerise pompoms in front of her, keeping the sinister attack away from herself and the Guardians. The energy eventually ran out, and Amu prepared herself for a counterattack, but the X-charas seemed to rethink their plan. The characters split up, and flew to form a triangle around Amu. They planned to attack her from all angles, so she couldn't possibly block it.

They all attacked in sync. The blast came flying towards Amu, but she flew upwards and dodged the speeding attack. The three beams met in the centre, and exploded.

"_I have to get them all together and defeat them!"_

"Heart Rod!" yelled Amu, positioning her arm above her head as a baton appeared in her hand. She pulled her arm and then threw the rod, sending it twirling around the X-characters.

It just passed one chara with a hair width between it. The X-chara giggled maliciously, as if to say "Haha, you missed". Amu just grinned back evilly.

The baton spun around the X-characters, drawing then close together as if tying them with invisible rope. Two characters were trapped against each other, but one sneaky chara slipped out of the reach of the rod at the last moment.

"_I'll get that one later, for now to take care of these two!"_

"Miki!" Amu called out as she swapped transformation from Ran to the little blue chara.

"Character Transformation: Artistic Spade!"

Amu summoned her giant paintbrush and twirled around.

"Colourful Canvas!" she called out, as a wave of technicolour paint was aimed at the two ensnared X-charas.

The paint hit them, and continued to batter them as the attack continued. The charas howled as they reached their breaking point. The two characters were forced back into their eggs, and then with the final blow the eggs shattered into a dozen tiny pieces. The remains dissipated into the air.

Amu turned to face the final character but was startled when she saw someone else had the egg in their grasp.

- - - - - -

Ikuto watched as one of the eggs broke free from the girl's attack, and flew over near the tree he was hidden in.

"Yoru, this time"

"Right, nya!"

"My own heart, Unlock!"

A sapphire blue light encaged him as he became his character.

"Character Transformation: Black Lynx!"

The X-character was still watching Amu when Ikuto pounced on it from behind. He caught the chara in one hand, and started forcing it to return to its egg.

The chara struggled with all its might, but Ikuto's strong hand finally forced the two halves of the egg to join. It was now when the pink girl noticed him.

He mouth was slightly agape as she realised there was someone else in the area with a Character Transformation.

With a little more effort, Ikuto completely crushed the egg, destroying it as Amu had with the other two.

She took a step towards him.

"Um, thanks, I guess…" Amu said lamely. She stared at the boys face, he was kind of hot. Well, actually, _really_ hot. And- hold on a minute!

"_What the hell was I thinking just then!? And at a time like this!!"_

Amu realised that she was gawking like an idiot, so she tried to say something to cover up her embarrassment. Before Amu could add anymore, Tadase had stepped in the area between them, shielding Amu from Ikuto.

"Tsukiyomi Ikuto!" Tadase yelled angrily at the cat-like teenager.

Ikuto returned to normal, and his transformation was dropped in a shower of light. Yoru popped out once the transformation ended.

"We're done here, so I guess this is out cue to go, Ikuto"

This time Ikuto made no reply at all, but turned his back on Tadase and Amu and began striding away.

"Where are you going! Coward!" Tadase shouted at Ikuto's back. He payed no heed to the little king's taunts.

Ikuto Character Changed, and with a swish of his cat tail turned and leapt away onto the rooftop of a nearby building, and disappeared from everyone's sight. Tadase continued to scowl at the building that he was last seen.

Amu discarded her transformation in a cascade of blueish sparkles. Ran and Suu caught up to where Amu and Miki were standing.

"You do great Amu-chan, desu!" congratulated Suu.

"Amu-chan kicks butt!!" Ran excitedly cheered.

The rest of the Guardians joined them a few seconds later.

"You were amazing!!" shrieked Yaya, waving her hands about kind of a lot like Ran was doing moments before, "You showed those X-eggs a lesson!"

"I-It was just a Character Transformation…" Amu muttered, using her 'cool and spicy' attitude to hide the fact she was embarrassed about being complemented.

"Are you alright, Hotori-kun?" Nadeshiko asked Tadase, noticing that he was still frowning up at the roof that Ikuto had occupied. Hearing his name seemed to knock him out of his trail of thought, and he returned to reality.

"Ah, it's fine Fujisaki-san", Tadase then turned to face Amu, "you certainly did a good job, Hinamori-san. You saved us all"

Amu's face began to flush as she received the complement from the Prince of her dreams.

"Um, Um, It's not like I wanted to fight or anything but I couldn't really leave those X-egg things run around or something like that, y'know, uh, I-" Amu continued to stammer out incoherent sentences as she unsuccessfully attempted to maintain her outside character.

Suddenly, Amu's flustering was ended when she started to feel dizzy, and began to fall backwards.

Tadase acted quickly, and stepped behind Amu can caught her in his arms before she could land on the ground. She was completely out cold, but if Amu had been awake her face definitely would have resembled a tomato knowing that she was in the firm embrace of her Prince.

"Amu-chan!" Her characters cried out, flying over to her side.

"Poor Amu-chan is tired out tired out from the Character Transformation, desu" Suu explained, "Character Transformation can take a lot out of a person, and Amu-chan did two transformations, desu!"

Tadase looked worriedly at the sleeping girl in his arms. It certainly looked romantic, like a prince coming to rescue his princess. But, like all good things, the mood had to be ruined at some point.

"Umm…" started Tadase, "what do I do with her??"

Yep. There it was. Romantic mood gone.

"Uh, the infirmary might still be open after school…" suggest Kuukai while rubbing the back of his head. He might now the best tactics for winning a soccer match, but looking after an unconscious girl was a bit away from his area.

"I guess it's worth a shot." Tadase shifted his arms slightly, making it more comfortable for him to carry Amu.

The four Guardians plus a sleeping Amu started heading towards the main school block, and towards the infirmary.

- - - - - -

Amu groaned and blinked her eyes sleepily as she returned to the world of the awake.

"Wh…Where am I?"

"You're at the infirmary, Hinamori-san" Tadase told her quietly, just in case she had a headache.

"The…Infirmary…?" Amu held a confused expression for a few moments, but that was quickly gone as she remembered what had transpired earlier.

"I didn't think the infirmary was open after school"

"Well it isn't usually" said a kind voice. Amu turned and saw the school's nurse standing beside the bed she was lying in. "I stayed here late to do some cleaning up, and I was just about to leave when you and your friends turned up here. Are you alright now? They said you passed out without any reason."

"_Without reason… right"_ Amu thought to herself.

"Uh, yeah. That's what happened. How long have I been here for?"

"Not too long, Amu-chan!" said Ran

"Maybe about 15 minutes, desu" Suu said more specifically.

"Ah that's good, not too long…"

The nurse looked at her slightly weirdly. No one had answered her question, and yet it seemed she was replying to someone… The nurse quickly shook the thought. She's probably just confused after waking up.

"Do you think you are alright to go home?" the nurse asked her.

"Yeah, I'm just a bit tired. But I could make it home." Amu sat up in the bed, and noticed that the only ones in the room were herself, Tadase and the nurse.

"Where is everyone else?" she asked Tadase.

"It was getting late, and we didn't know how long you would be out for, so they headed home. I decided to stay here with you; it didn't feel right just leaving you here by yourself. Well, with the nurse and yourself." Tadase explained, and smiled sweetly at her.

"_T-The prince stayed here with me? He was worried about me?!"_ Amu's heart thumped in her chest and she felt her face started to flush.

Amu was quickly becoming flustered, so she did what she usually tried to do in these situations; act cool and pretend nothing matters.

"Y-You didn't need to do that. I'm fine. See?" Amu removed the sheet covering her and almost jumped out of the bed, showing that she was well.

Tadase merely continued smiling at her, as if he knew she was only pretending.

"_I guess that's her own way of saying 'thank you'"_ Tadase laughed in his mind.

"Well I'm going to go home now." Amu was still trying to keep up the cool act.

"I'll walk with you to the gates"

"Whatever"

Amu's character trio giggled to themselves over Amu's antics. The attitude might have been believable if she didn't have a large blush across her face. Kiseki was nearby watching them.

"_Why do girls giggle so much? It's annoying. When I get the Embryo and I'm King, I'll ban giggling"_ Satisfied with his plan, Kiseki floated after Tadase and Amu. Ran, Miki and Suu did the same.

- - - - - - -

Amu collapsed into her bed, it was only 7.30 pm but she was ready to go to sleep now anyway.

"What a tiring day… the meeting with the Guardians and the X-egg attack… all this stress is going to kill me." Amu sighed sinking her head into the soft pillow.

"You're strong, Amu-chan! You can handle it! And if not I'll do a character change and then you'll have bounds of energy!! Yaaay!" Ran was zipping around the room. She did the transformation as well, how come she still gets to have energy? Amu moaned at the unfairness of it all.

Amu stretched out and exhaled, thinking about everything that had happened. Suddenly a thought came to her.

"Hey guys… how did I get to the infirmary? Last thing I remember was passing out in the school grounds."

"Oh that" said Miki slyly and Ran giggled, "When you were unconscious the _Prince_ carried you all the way there in his _strong_ arms." Miki placed extra emphasis on a few certain words that were sure to get an effect from Amu.

"W-WHAT?! HE CARRIED ME!? IN HIS ARMS?!" Amu's face glowed like never before. Her charas merely laughed at her.

"GWAAHH!!" Amu loudly shrieked, loud enough for a certain cat-like person outside her window to hear.

"_I wonder what got her all worked up…"_ Ikuto grinned slightly, and turned around swiftly and leapt away.

"She's certainly an interesting character… Hinamori Amu"

And with that all traces of the cat-boy disappeared into the night.

Amu yawned loudly. "Well I'm going to sleep now before I collapse"

Amu flicked off the light in her room, and got under the covers of her bed.

" 'Night Ran, Miki, Suu"

The charas flew into their eggs. "Goodnight Amu-chan" they said in chorus. And with that the first exciting day of many ended. As Amu drifted to sleep, she hoped that tomorrow would be less eventful.

"_But you never really know what's going to happen tomorrow, so I'll just wait and find out…"_

Everyone, character and person alike, was sleeping peacefully.

- - - - - - -

**A/N:** I hope you thought this chapter was good! This is the longest one I have written so far, and I put my best effort into it.

PLEASE VOTE IN MY POLL ON MY PROFILE! It has a question about this story, and I would like an answer soon! Thank you everyone who reads, reviews, +alert, +favs!!


	5. The Beginning of the Battle

**A/N:** Only 3 people voted in my poll… oh well. More people wanted me to end this fanfic with Amu joining the Guardians but I'm having a lot of fun writing this so I'm gonna keep going I'm going to make things a lot different from the actual series, so it's not going to be repetitive! Although I might take some scenarios and modify them a bit

**READ THIS:** I decided to change the ages of the characters here, just so I can do more with them. Amu, Tadase, and Nadeshiko are 13. Kuukai and Utau are 14. Ikuto is 15. Yaya is 12.

Let's make Seiyo Academy a high school or something. And Ikuto and Utau go to a different high school.

Anyway, these Authors Comments are way too long! On with the story! Oh, I don't own Shugo Chara either! I have been forgetting to do a disclaimer…

- - - - - - - -

**Chapter Five: The Beginning of the Battle**

Amu walked not too energetically into the school building. Despite sleeping over 12 hours last night, she was still rubbing tiredness from her eyes.

"_Maybe I slept TOO much and it made me more tired… I don't even know how that would work…"_ Amu thought sleepily while staring blankly ahead. Amu covered her mouth as she began a massive yawn.

"Amu-chan's mouth is so big! Ran could fit inside Amu-chan's mouth when she yawns!!" Ran was laughing and floating around Amu's face. Amu immediately closed her gaping mouth and started yelling at Ran.

"Amu-chan is not a morning person" Miki whispered to Suu with sarcastic expression on her face. Suu giggled as Amu continued to rant at the pink chara, who was flying loop-de-loops in the air and was smiling amusedly at Amu's infuriation.

"Annoying little character! How are _you_ my would-be-self!? I don't want to be an irritating, loud-mouthed-"

_THUD!_

Inside the classroom, the students turned and looked at the door; something had just slammed into it. The door then slid open revealing a cranky Amu with a large, red mark on her forehead where she collided with the hard surface.

Her characters were nearly killing themselves laughing, and were doubled over clutching their stomachs.

"_When class is over their really gonna get it…"_ Amu clenched her jaw and stalked over to her table and sat down with a huff.

Most the class was staring at her, and a few even risked giggling behind their hands as Amu's little blunder. Amu just glared at the desk in embarrassment, though her moping was interrupted by another loud thump as someone else was unfortunate enough to collide with the offending door.

A nearby student walked over and slid open the door, to expose a young adult sprawled out on ground completely covered in dropped books and papers.

"A-Are you alright… sir…?" the student asked uncertainly.

The man managed to stand up amongst the mess and rubbed his messy, brown hair.

"I was carrying so much stuff I couldn't see where I was going… hehe…" he smiled awkwardly, and then bent down and attempted to pick up all the papers.

The class was tried hard to not laugh at Amu, but this was the last straw. Everyone in the room fell into hysterics. Two people running into the door one after the other! What are the chances of the happening?

Even Amu was cheered up slightly with the joyful atmosphere and sniggered as well.

"What a clumsy adult…" she said to no one in particular.

"You can't really call him clumsy, Amu-chan, take a look at yourself first" Miki decided to add in pointedly.

"Shut up Miki" Amu had started glowering again.

The man now had his arms full with the books and papers once more. Amu was surprised when he dumped them all on the desk at the front of their classroom.

"Well students," he began, "From today onwards I'll be your new homeroom teacher for the term!"

He turned and wrote his name on the blackboard with chalk.

Nikaidou Yuu.

Nikaidou tapped the board. "My name is Nikaidou Yuu, but you can all refer to me as Nikaidou-sensei. How about we start off by marking who is here… now where is that book…"

Nikaidou-sensei began rummaging through the mass of papers. He leaned over the desk to reach a book at the back of the pile, and as if right on cue he tripped on a misplaced notebook and fell face first over the top of the table, splaying all the items all over floor, just as they were minutes earlier.

Once again the class roared in laughter, and even Amu was openly laughing along with everyone else.

Atop Nikaidou's head was a single book, he removed it and began chuckling.

"Well if it isn't the book I was looking for. Something good did come out of that little slip-up"

The giggling began to die down, and final it petered out altogether. Nikaidou-sensei then began calling out the students' names one by one, and ticked them in the mark book.

Everyone in the classroom, including Amu, answered to the call with a monotone "Here", or with some word which was similar.

Finally the teacher closed the mark book with a quiet thump, and placed on top of the messy piles on the desk.

"Well, I have been told that the 'Guardians' are holding a school meeting right after roll call, so I think it best that we start to head towards the main hall now" Nikaidou mentioned towards the door, signalling for the class to move out.

There was the combined noise of scraping chairs as the class stood up, and began making their way out of the room. They all joined the throng of students which had begun forming in the halls as roll marking ended.

Amu was jostled along with everyone else, and she found herself stuck next to the same girl that had explained to her about the guardians. Amu had picked up on her name because of roll call, it was Tarokaze Akane.

"U-um Akane-san…" Amu spoke, calling Akane's attention.

Akane turned her head around to face Amu, her emerald-coloured plaits bouncing as she did.

"Oh, Amu-san! Hi!" Akane answered gaily. Amu noticed how bright her indigo eyes were when she smiled; Akane always seemed to be in such a good mood.

"So… what's this meeting going to be about?" Amu enquired. Amu congratulated herself, as for once she seemed normal and wasn't using her cool attitude.

"Well it's one week into the new term, so the Guardians are going to announce the new members! I can't wait to find out who it's going to be!! Yay!" Akane managed to clap her hands excitedly in the confined space of the crowd.

People began to disperse as everyone entered the hall, and took their seats in order from their classes. Amu sat around the middle, three chairs from the left end of the room. She said goodbye to Akane, as she sat further down the row near the other side.

"Akane seems really nice" Ran commented, voicing what Amu was actually thinking herself, "You could become good friends with her, Amu-chan!"

"I would like to be good friends with her too…" Amu muttered, trying not to be too loud, so no one would think she was talking to herself. Her charas heard her, and smiled. Finally the obstinate Amu was opening up to someone.

Their brief conversation was interrupted though by the beginning of the school meeting. Tadase, being the King's chair, began his speech by thanking everyone for coming. He then moved on to talking about some school issues that the Guardians were going to address and other related subjects. After finishing up on that topic, Tadase moved onto what everyone was anxious to find out, who would be the new member of the Guardians. There had been many rumours going around, but now was the moment of truth.

Amu's cool and spicy side wanted to act bored, but Amu couldn't help but sit on the edge of her seat in anticipation. She was very afraid they were going to name her. After the events yesterday she didn't get a chance to tell them that she didn't want to join.

"_The Prince is going to announce my name, I just know it. Then everything will go down the drain…"_

Amu sweated in her seat, and time seemed to go on for an eternity as Tadase began the announcement.

"-and now to announce the new member of the Guardians! This person will take the position of Joker. The new member is…"

Everyone in the room had held their breath, except of course for Tadase and the three other Guardians on the stage.

"…Hinamori Amu!"

"_This is all going wrong! Now no one will see me as normal, and it will be even harder to make friends! Stupid Guardians!! Stupid! Stupid!"_ Amu ranted to herself, while on the outside she acted indifferent.

Her classmates nearby Amu were cheering her, saying stuff like "Hinamori was so cool she definitely was going to become a Guardian" and she could also hear choruses of "cool and spicy".

"Amu-chan" Ran said to her worridly, "Please don't feel bad! Being a Guardian could be fun, and um… and you can spend time with the prince! Don't give up Amu-chan! There are still lots of chances to make friends! Just be yourself!"

The last three words Ran said snapped Amu out of her self-pitying trance.

"_That's right…I made that promise, that I wouldn't give up! I can still be myself, and be a Guardian too!"_ Amu had set her mind, and was determined to make the best out of the situation she was in. _"And I can spend time with Tadase-kun!"_

"Thanks Ran! Alright I can do it now!" Over the noise of the crowd no one else heard her talking to her all but invisible charas.

"Yay!!" Ran cried, along with Miki and Suu. They were all happy Amu was going to do her best, even though things didn't turn out the way that she wanted them too.

Ran got a little _too_ carried away with everything though, as suddenly Amu's 'X' clips became two cute pink hearts.

"Yay!" Amu leapt out of her chair, "I'll do my best as a Guardian!" Amu smiled widely and made the peace sign with her hand, all while doing a cute pose.

A few people around her were momentarily surprised by the sudden mood change, but soon resumed smiling and congratulating her. Amu smiled back at them, but this time it was her real smile, and not Ran's character change.

"With everything said and done, everyone can go back to their classrooms, but would Hinamori-san mind staying behind for a short while" Tadase finished off his speech and looked directly at Amu. Amu noticed his glance, blushed and looked at the ground.

Students filed out of the hall, and returned to their classes. Amu stayed behind, and waited till the last person left the room. She was now along with the four other Guardians.

"Amuuuu-chii!" cried Yaya as she skipped down from the stage. "Now you're really a part of the Guardians! This will be so much fun!"

"Uh, yeah" Amu half-heartedly agreed. She thought being a Guardian would be interesting, but didn't quite share the same enthusiasm as Yaya.

All the guardians were smiling at her, including Tadase. Amu felt herself go red in the face.

"_Why do I blush so much!? All Tadase-kun did was look at me! I'm such a loser!"_ The whole everytime-Tadase-is-in-the-near-vacinty-Amu-must-blush thing was really annoying, not to mention embarrassing for Amu. Her three characters were snickering again at Amu's discomfort.

"After school Hinamori-san we are having another meeting. There we will explain more about your role as Joker." Tadase informed Amu with his usual courteous voice and expression.

"Y'know, I technically didn't agree to join the Guardians in the first place" Amu replied coolly, even though she still had the remainders of a blush on her cheeks. She decided now was a good time to let them know of her opinion on the current circumstances. Her cool, stubborn character came into play.

Nadeshiko smiled sweetly. "If said no we would have just forced you to join. It's a good thing you're joining with your own free will, right?" what Nadeshiko was implying and the tone of her voice were incredibly contradictive, and came out as a rather strange combination. Amu was actually rather freaked out by it.

"_N-Nadeshiko is so scary!!"_

"I-I was going to say how you're all lucky that I am going to join!!" Amu fearfully stated. _"I don't know if she was serious or not, but I'm not taking any chances!" _ She crossed her arms and turned away from the scary-yet-sweet girl, in an effort to keep her composure.

"What a frightening character, desu" Suu whispered to her sister characters. They both shook their heads nervously in agreement.

"Weeelll, now that that's over, we all need to head to class! Seeya later, Hinamori!" Kuukai broke the nervous tension with his upbeat personality. He waved his hand briefly in Amu's direction and began heading out of the meeting hall. The rest of the Guardians followed his lead and began to head off to their respective classes, all wishing Amu a farewell as they passed by her.

Amu walked much slower than everyone, and eventually everyone had gone off to class and she was alone in the hallways.

Amu sighed audibly. Worrying over everything, becoming a Guardian, doing that cute Character-change, all this stress will give her grey hairs! And she was _still _tired from yesterday. But Amu was happy. Relieved and happy. She had almost all of her doubts sorted out. Now all that was left to do is wait and see what will happen next.

Her characters said nothing to her, and floated along beside her, but Amu could almost feel the comforting words that they did not say.

"_As long as I have my Shugo Chara, I can take any challenge!"_

Even though most the time her charas annoyed her, and she often yelled and threatened to flush them down the toilet, Amu was incredibly grateful they were there. Their support was unwavering.

"_Maybe I should tell them how much I really appreciate them? Nah, they probably already know it anyway. They are born from me after all"_

Suddenly Amu stopped dead in the empty corridors.

"What's wrong Amu-chan?" Ran asked her, confused as to the sudden standstill.

Amu muttered something incomprehensible.

"Huh?" her characters couldn't understand a word of what Amu just said.

"I… I don't know how to get back to my classroom… I just followed everyone else when we came here…"

"Wait… You mean-" Miki started, "-YOU'RE LOST?!" The three characters shouted at the same time.

Amu seemed to shrink in size. She looked up at her charas with watery eyes.

"What if I can never find my way back? What if I'm stuck wandering the school forever?!" Amu's imagination started to take over as she imagined that and other various misfortunate events that could happen to her while she was alone in the school.

Amu had now officially started to panic.

"WHAT AM I GOING TO DO?!"

- - - - - - - -

It took 20 minutes of aimless walking as well as much calming and guidance from her charas for Amu to make it back to her classroom. She blamed her lateness on the Guardians, of course.

The final bell of the school day had just finished ringing, and Amu was packing her shoulder bag and preparing to head out to the Royal Garden for her second Guardian meeting.

She was walking out of the school building and towards the glass structure that was the Garden, when someone skipped along beside her.

Akane's green tresses bounced lightly with every step she took.

"Hi!" She greeted playfully as ever.

"Hi, Akane-san!" Amu returned.

"Hey, hey, I'm not doing anything right now, so do you wanna hang out or something?" She smiled with her everlasting, vibrant grin.

"Um, well, I have to go to a Guardian meeting now…"

"Oh that's alright then. We'll have to make it another time, 'kay!" Akane wasn't even upset or offended by Amu's refusal. "I really want to get to know you, Amu-san, because I have the feeling that you'll be a lot more than the cool person you act like on the outside!"

Amu just stared at Akane. What she just said, was basically what Amu had always wanted people to think of her. It was actually a little bit creepy, how accurate it was, how she knew exactly the right thing to say… but Amu felt happiness well up inside her. Someone actually wanted to be her friend, as could accept her the way she was!

"Amu-san… Hey y'know, san sounds so… boring and polite… how about I call you Amu-chan! Is that okay?" Akane continued to flash her bright grin.

"O-of course! As long as I can call you Akane-chan, too" Amu was a first caught off guard by the sudden request, but lightened up a little, and gave a small smile.

"Hehe!" Akane's wide smile was unparalleled.

"Well, I better not keep you any longer! Bye bye!" she waved gleefully and skipped off towards the gates, while Amu went on walking towards the Gardens.

"Akane-chan is a really great person! There's so much happiness inside her!" Ran being the outgoing character of Amu, was positively delighted at making a new friend. "She has a strong heart, it's like her dreams are overflowing!"

Amu thought that 'overflowing dreams' was a rather odd way to describe someone, but it seemed to fit Akane perfectly.

Feeling much happier than she had in days, Amu entered the Royal Garden for her second time.

- - - - - - - - - -

Amu was seated between Kuukai and Tadase around the circular table in the centre of the Royal Garden. Amu stared perplexedly at the Guardians.

"Trump… card…?" Amu didn't understand at all what the Prince was trying to say to her. "What do you mean I'm the Guardians trump card? What do I do?" All these things relating to cards were confusing Amu.

"_And even my chara's insignia are like a pack of cards… what's with this lame recurring theme anyway?!"_

"Basically you're our backup when things get tough" Kuukai explained in simpler terms.

"…like an X-Egg attack?"

"Exactly", Tadase nodded, "You're the only one of us that can character-transform, the most we can do is a character-change."

"And Amu-chi has the easiest job too! Yaya and everyone else have to do boring paperwork! Yaya hates paperwork!" Yaya pouted and cross her arms. She looked just like a small child sulking.

"Now, now, Yaya-chan. Why don't you eat a cookie here? I baked them especially" Nadeshiko comforted Yaya, and as soon as she mentioned cookies, Yaya immediately perked up and began hoeing into the pile of biscuits.

"You made these biscuits, Nadeshiko-san?" Amu asked curiously. With all the talking she hadn't tried one yet, but they certainly looked delicious.

"Yes, please try one and tell me what you think" Nadeshiko beamed brightly. It was moments like these that it was hard to believe that Nadeshiko could be extremely scary behind that smile.

Amu selected a biscuit from the edge of the pile. It looked like chocolate chip. Amu took a bite out of it and her eyes widened.

Amu chewed and swallowed the bite. "This tastes really good!"

Nadeshiko cocked her head and smiled.

Everyone had stopped talking and started eating all the cookies before they were all taken by the greedy Yaya.

"Awww no more cookies" Yaya sounded exceptionally disappointed.

"I'll bake some more for the next meeting" Nadeshiko promised Yaya, trying to cheer her up again.

"Hooray!! Thank you Nadeshiko-chaaan!!" Yaya had another immediate mood change and was back to being extremely happy.

Out of the blue a thought came to Amu. A concerned look crossed her features.

"Is something wrong, Amu-chan?" Nadeshiko asked her.

"Hey… because I'm a Guardian… I don't have to wear that _hideous_ royal cape do I??"

Kuukai laughed at Amu. "You looked like something terrible had happened, and that was all you were worried about! That's hilarious!"

"H-Hey I'm being serious! That _thing_ goes against all my fashion sensibility!!"

Kuukai just laughed some more. "Haha! Thing's are definitely going to be more interesting with you around!"

Amu found herself blushing at the comment. _"Wait… I like Tadase-kun, right? Why am I blushing for Kuukai!? Argh what's happening to me?!"_

Tadase then turned to Amu which made her blush worsen. "Don't worry about the cape, it's just a formality. You will only need to wear it on special occasions."

"T-That's fine then." Amu was trying to act out her cool character again. Tadase smiled at her and he had a funny look in his eye, which made Amu's blush go up another level. She was sure she would be mistaken for a tomato by now.

"Well," Kuukai stretched his arm behind his back, "I think that's everything, right? I gotta go to soccer practice, seeya guys! Bye Hinamori!" He winked at Amu.

"_Did he just… wink at me!?"_

"Seeya, Souma-kun!"

"See you tomorrow, Souma-san"

"Bye Bye Kuukai-kun!!"

Amu said nothing, as she was still freaking over the fact that he winked at her. He actually _winked_ at her.

Tadase then announced that the meeting was officially over.

Everyone said their goodbyes and went off in their separate directions. Amu began the walk back home.

- - - - - - - - - - -

Amu entered her house and began heading up the stairs towards her room.

"Welcome home, Amu-chan!" Amu's mother greeted. She was wearing a yellow apron and was making dinner in the kitchen. "Tea will be ready very soon!"

"Okay, mama" Amu replied before she disappeared from view completely and entered her room.

"Well, today was also rather eventful. But more in a good way this time." Amu commented to her charas.

"Uh-huh!" Agreed Ran. Miki and Suu nodded.

"Hey, where were you guys when I was talking with the Guardians? You seemed to vanish." Amu said to them after reflecting on the events on the afternoon.

"We were just with the other charas" Miki clarified.

"Hm Okay" Amu stretched and flopped down onto her bed. She glanced over at the calendar on the wall.

"_Tomorrow is Saturday… no school, nothing to worry about…"_ Amu closed her eyes for a moment.

"Don't fall asleep Amu-chan, desu!" Suu called out to her.

"I'm not asleep… just resting my eyes"

"_Sure you were"_ That's what all her characters were thinking, though none of them said anything out loud.

Before Amu could properly descend into the world of the unconscious, her mother yelled out from the floor below.

"Amu-chan! Dinner is on the table!"

"Coming Mama!"

Amu groaned, but managed to lift herself into sitting position, and then got off her bed.

"_It's gonna be another early night for me…"_

- - - - - - - - - - -

Three figures, two males and a female were in a darkened room. One male was seated behind a large desk, and had an air of authority around him. His face was in shadows, and it was impossible to tell who he was, or what he looked like.

"So… enjoying your new job as a teacher, Nikaidou-san?" asked the man in a sarcastic, menacing voice.

"You could say so. Keeping up this ridiculous character is tiring though" Nikaidou replied smoothly, his clumsy aura replaced with something more… sinister.

"You are keeping a special eye on 'her', correct?"

"Naturally. As her homeroom teacher no one suspects a thing. If all goes well, we will have the _Embryo_ in no time"

"Che. You don't even no if it's the right girl anyway" the only woman in the room angrily responded back.

"Oh don't be so bitter, _Sanjou-san_"

"Hmph" was all the sound 'Sanjou-san' made.

"Don't let this rivalry get in the way of your work"

"Of course not" They both said simultaneously.

"Good. Now tell me how everything is progressing"

"It seems we have a bit of competition with a group of students at the school. They call themselves _Guardians_. All of them posses Shugo Chara. They destroyed some X-Eggs we created a couple of days ago. They might be a problem for us." Nikaidou answered.

"I see"

"Should we destroy their Hearts' Eggs?" Sanjou-san asked.

The mysterious man rubbed his temples as if all this chatter was meaningless to him. "If something stands in Easter's way, we eliminate them."

Even though the unknown person didn't exactly answer the question, he needn't say anymore, both of them understood his meaning perfectly.

"Is that all? Now leave." He ordered.

The two adults left without another word.

"Destroy the Guardians' Eggs, hmm? I don't think they'll let us do that without a fight, what do you think, Sanjou-san?"

"Whatever" Sanjou walked away down a hallway in the opposite direction of Nikaidou.

"So this is where the battle begins… _Guardians_…"

- - - - - - - - - -

**A/N:** Woo, this chapter is my longest one yet! What do you think of the OC Akane I shoved in there? Don't worry, she's not completely meaningless, she plays an interesting role later on in the story (I've already dropped some hints to what that might be… so you could probably work it out if you think hard enough haha)

Hopefully the story should get more interesting from this point on! I'm terrible at writing romance… but I'm going to try and put some in there… and the pairings should start to reveal themselves… ANYWAY, a big thankyou for Reviews, Favourites, Alerts, or just reading this story! THANKS!!


	6. Gifts

**A/N:** Well, how long as it been since my last update? Too long, in my opinion.

Anyway, here goes Chapter 6!

**..::++_- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -_++::..**

**Chapter Six: Gifts**

"_This is the first day I've had to myself all week, and I'm BORED. I almost want to go back to school"_ Amu wasn't particularly happy about not enjoying her day off. She was walking aimlessly around the local shopping mall; the midday sun burning on the back of her neck.

She had slept in late this morning, and was planning on lounging around all day, but unfortunately Amu seemed to have suddenly gained lots of energy, and _had_ to go outside and do something. Amu had suspicions Ran may have been behind it, as the little chara had been complaining about staying inside on such a wonderful day.

Amu wiped a trail of sweat that had been gathering on her forehead.

"It's too hot…" she complained out loud to her characters. Her charas could only groan in agreement.

Amu spotted an empty bench seat that was in the shade of a large tree. She walked over and collapsed down, her charas right beside her. The cool darkness was refreshing, and there even was a slight breeze blowing.

She relaxed for a while longer, before forcing herself to get back up.

"I wish I had made plans with someone this weekend…" she sighed and began walking in a random direction.

"Amu-chaaaaaan" an ominous voice said from behind her back. Amu felt a warm breath on the base of her neck that sent chills down her spine.

"AAAAAAHHHHH!" shrieked Amu before cowering on the ground a few metres away.

A familiar voice giggled. "You're way too easy to scare! How cute!"

"N-N-Nadeshiko-san!" Amu stuttered.

Nadeshiko was standing over Amu with a mischievous grin on her face. Her navy hair was pulled back as usual, with petite flowery clips hanging from the hair tie. Her chara, Temari, was hovering near her shoulder.

Nadeshiko giggled again. "You wanted to spend the weekend with someone, right?"

"I, um, um" Amu tried to think of an excuse to not spend time with the scary girl.

"I'm sure we could have fun" Nadeshiko was being polite and sweet, extreme opposite of the frightening character she was mere seconds ago. "I really want to be your friend, Amu-chan!" Nadeshiko smiled happily, with her head tilted to one side, looking for the entire world like an innocent, kind character.

Amu was still racking her brains for some logical excuse to avoid Nadeshiko.

Nadeshiko seemed to sense Amu's reluctance, and started smiling sweetly as she thought of a new plan of action.

"Amu-chan, you like Hotori-kun, don't you?"

Amu's eyes widened. "I, um, that is, uh… maybe." She flustered, with a very meagre attempt to be cool. Finally Amu let out a long breath and gave in. "I do… a little…"

Nadeshiko's eyes twinkled as her plan went along perfectly. "Did you know it is Hototi-kun's birthday tomorrow? And don't you think the best way to get his attention would be to give him a special present?"

"I had no idea it was his birthday… and a present is a good idea- wait, hold on! You're just trying to con me, aren't you!?" Amu accused Nadeshiko.

"What gave you that idea? I'm just offering advice as a friend" Nadeshiko continued using her politeness to slowly persuade Amu to go along with her.

"Well… but I don't know… what could I get him anyway?"

"Amu-chan is being lured in…" commented Miki, loud enough that only Ran and Suu could hear.

"How about you make some snacks? A present made from your heart is sure to get Hototi-kun's attention!" Nadeshiko said matter-of-factly.

"I suppose so…"

"Lured in…" Miki stated once again.

Nadeshiko beamed gleefully. "Great! Come with me!" Nadeshiko began running off, then looked behind her, and signalled Amu to follow. Amu began hurrying after the indigo-haired girl.

"Where are we going?"

"You'll see soon enough"

Amu and her charas walked/floated along beside Nadeshiko. Amu couldn't help but start smiling at the current situation. Strolling alongside Nadeshiko, smiling and laughing, to anyone watching it would seem like they were close friends.

"_Nadeshiko isn't really that bad… maybe we could become good friends…"_ Amu was almost as happy as when she was with Akane.

"_Another friend… it seems becoming a Guardian really was a good thing after all."_

**..::++_- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -_++::..**

"The school?" Amu looked quizzically at Nadeshiko.

"Mm-hmm!" Nadeshiko nodded, "We can use the cooking room! It's usually open later today for the home economics club, but because we're Guardians we can go in now"

"Are you sure it's okay Nadeshiko-san?!" Amu was a little worried about going into the school without any formal permission.

"It's fine," Nadeshiko shrugged off the comment easily, "us Guardians can do these things!"

"_She certainly likes using her powers as a Guardian…"_ Amu thought wearily to herself. As sweet as Nadeshiko was, that 'creepy' character of hers was most foreboding. Amu's three characters appeared to be having the same thoughts about the navy-haired girl and her chara, as by their rather nervous expressions as Temari giggled girlishly yet somehow put out a deadly aura.

The two plus the company of their Shugo Chara made their way into the cooking room of Seiyo Academy. The cooking room was rather plain, with simple beige walls and clean, white counters all around. A lone refrigerating sat in the corner, and nearby was a door leading into the storeroom which held as assortment of ingredients, utensils and other likely kitchen paraphernalia.

Amu and Nadeshiko put on aprons that were hanging by the doorway. Nadeshiko was wearing a light pink apron with small frills around the edge, but apart from that it was rather simple. Amu's was little fancier. It seemed to be made to match the school uniform, as it had the same, chequered red pattern that was on Amu's school skirts and stylish leg warmers. Around the side of the lap of the apron large, bunchy frills hanged cutely, but not too much that it was overdone.

"You look cute in that apron, Amu-chan!" Nadeshiko complimented Amu when she had finished tying it on.

Amu's cheeks flushed slightly, as her shy side didn't let the comment slide by.

"N-Not really!" Amu stuttered. Nadeshiko just replied by saying her stuttering was cute too, which made Amu further more uncomfortable. Luckily, Nadeshiko ended the teasing at that, and pulled Amu into the storeroom to gather ingredients to make the treat for Tadase.

"What are we going to make?" Amu asked as they dumped flour, butter, eggs, sugar and other assorted food-related items onto one of the tabletops.

"Cookies, of course!" the creepy/sweet girl exclaimed while clapping her hands together happily. "Well let's begin! First we need to put the flour and sugar in a bowl!"

"Uh-huh!" Amu nodded and followed the instructions she was being given. Nadeshiko told Amu what to do in easy steps, and showed her the correct way to crack eggs, beat the mixture, and roll the dough.

"Amu-chan, desu!" Suu called, "Do you want to character-change to make it easier?" the little green-coloured character asked her owner.

Amu considered it thoughtfully for a moment, before coming to a different answer from usual.

"Not this time, Suu. I think that since this is a birthday present for the Prince, that it would be better if I made it myself, from my own heart."

Suu was mildly surprised at Amu's answer, but started smiling immediately after.

"_Looks like Amu-chan is finally starting to do things on her own, and is beginning to become her would-be-self, desu"_ Suu cheerfully sounded to herself. Ran and Miki noticed the same thing, and similar smiles were on their tiny features.

"GO AMU-CHAN!!!!" Ran shrieked and cheered from the sidelines as Amu went about cooking with the help of Nadeshiko.

Amu couldn't stop smiling while she was baking the cookies. It was really a lot of fun to make them, especially with Nadeshiko helping and laughing with her.

"They're done!" Amu shouted enthusiastically. She had really gotten into the whole cooking experience with Nadeshiko by her side. With thick oven mitts protecting the soft skin on her hands, Amu reached inside the hot oven and pulled out a tray full of golden, scrumptious biscuits. The biscuits were in many different shapes; such as stars, hearts, moons, and other simple polygons. Some even had sprinkles or chocolate chips embedded in them, making the treats even more delectable.

Amu's golden eyes lit up as she looked at the cookies she had made.

"They turned out really well, Amu-chan" Nadeshiko mentioned to the happy girl.

"T-Thankyou, Nadeshiko-san!" Amu thanked her new friend most eagerly.

"Please call me Nadeshiko-chan! We're both Guardians, and it makes me feel like we're strangers if you use the -san suffix!"

"O-Okay, Nadeshiko-chan" Amu's smile became even brighter than before.

"Alright now! One more step and then we're done!" Nadeshiko's indigo hair swayed back and forth as she walked over to a certain counter, and took out a box and multicoloured ribbons from the draws beneath it.

"Now you can wrap up the cookies and make a proper looking present!" she announced cheerily.

Amu seemed to be thinking about something for a moment, but then spoke, "Why are there craft supplies in a kitchen? And everything has worked out so well, it's almost like you _planned_ this, Nadeshiko-chan" her honey-coloured eyes narrowed suspiciously at the dubious girl.

"What are you talking about? I only met you this morning by chance, how could I have possible planned this?" Nadeshiko tilted her head slightly to the side and wore an expression of complete innocence.

"Hmmm" Amu was still apprehensive, but decided to let it go. Nadeshiko _had_ helped her a lot, and appeared to be a very good friend. Amu the strolled over to the counter with the craft bits and pieces, and stood next to Nadeshiko.

"What ribbon do you want to use?" asked Nadeshiko, while gazing at the many hues. There were about six different coloured reams of ribbons.

"PINK! Definitely pink!" Ran darted out from nowhere and grabbed a length of the aforementioned ribbon, and held it up to show Amu how cute the overly-bright colour was.

Miki and Suu materialized behind Ran, and announced their own opinions.

"Blue represents intelligence"

"Green is the colour of life, desu!!"

The little charas began squabbling over which colour will best suit the gift. Nadeshiko and Temari watched the scene with amusement, while Amu laughed awkwardly.

Amu looked down at the coloured strings; she didn't really have any particular colour in mind. The charas fight went up another level as the shouting became louder as they tried to outdo each other.

Amu started cringing as the shouting was beginning to get on her nerves. Just to shut them up she closed her eyes and grabbed a random ribbon.

"I CHOOSE THIS ONE!" she yelled over the din.

She opened her eyes to find she was holding a deep purple cord.

"Purple is the colour of royalty, good choice Amu-chan!" Nadeshiko approved of the selected the ribbon.

The character trio's fight turned into a low grumbling, before they accepted that none of them had got anywhere.

"Purple is very close to blue" Miki finally voiced, that stubborn streak in her just wouldn't let it go. Ran just threw her arms up in exasperation and gave up. Suu did the same, just without the exaggerated arm movements.

Amu shook her head at the annoyingness of her characters.

Amu and Nadeshiko began to place the now cooled-down cookies into the box, and began wrapping the plain box with the lavender tie. It was finished off with a coiled bow at the top.

Amu beamed joyfully at the completed present.

"Well, how about we meet outside the school tomorrow Amu-chan? We'll meet at 11, then we can go visit Hotori-kun." Nadeshiko made the date to give the Prince his gift.

"Okay!"

Amu and Nadeshiko then removed their borrowed aprons, said their goodbyes, and went about with the rest of their days.

**..::++_- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -_++::..**

Amu stepped up to Nadeshiko outside the school's main gate. This morning had been a huge hassle. Amu had fretted for over an hour about what she should wear to go visit Tadase. Miki being her fashion coordinator ended up designing and drawing Amu an outfit, as nothing in her cupboard seemed to fit the occasion.

Amu was wearing a cerulean blue singlet, with a white stripe falling diagonally across the front. A mini black jacket that ended above her waist was sitting loosely over her shoulders, while a silvery chain dangled around her neck and slightly overlapped her singlet shirt. Her hips carried a frilly, white miniskirt, and underneath that she wore a pair of jeans that ended just above her knee. On her feet were simple sandals which were held on by a silver buckle at the front. Amu's hair adorned a single, blue 'X' clip, different to the usual red she wore to school.

"Ready to go?" Nadeshiko asked. She was wearing a plain lavender dress, with a dark blue vest covering the top half of it. She had on the same brown boots she wore to school.

"Uh-huh!" Amu replied heartily. Held in Amu's arms was the box of cookies that they had worked hard together in baking.

They headed off in the direction of Tadase's house, Nadeshiko slightly in front as she was showing Amu the way. Abruptly Nadeshiko stopped walking.

"Oh dear…"

"What's wrong?" Amu asked her friend worriedly. Nadeshiko put her hand in her pocket at the side of her dress, and seemed to be searching for something.

"It seems I have forgotten to bring the card I was going to give to Hotori-kun. I think I left it on the table at home…"

Amu face was in an 'o' expression, there wasn't really much she could do about the current situation.

"Could you please wait a few minutes while I go back and get it Amu-chan?"

Amu nodded. Nadeshiko then turned at ran back towards the direction of her house, to retrieve the forgotten card. The pink-haired girl sighed. She looked around and saw a nearby bench, and decided to sit there and wait. Just as she took one step towards the chair, someone caught Amu's attention at the corner of her eye. Or rather two someones.

"Ikuuutoooo, take me on a date!" whined a blonde girl as she clung to a boy's arm. She was rather beautiful, in Amu's opinion.

"No." was the straight answer given by the cobalt-haired boy. Amu's eyes widened in surprise when she realised she recognised the guy.

"That's the same guy who destroyed the other X-egg!" Ran rather loudly voiced Amu's thoughts. Amu stood frozen as she watched the couple walking. They seemed to realize they were being watched, and turned their gazes Amu's way.

Ikuto smirked. _"Well look at who it is…"_ He removed his arm from the blonde girls grasp and with surprising speed and agility, he was suddenly right in front of Amu.

Amu gasped as his face was mere inches away from hers.

"Hey… Amu, was it?" Ikuto asked her, his smirk never leaving his face.

"U-Um, y-yes, and y-you were I-Ikuto, r-r-right" Amu's face began to grow hot, and she started fidgeting under his intense gaze. _"When I first met him I thought he was hot, but he's even cuter up close! W-Wait I did NOT just think that! Oh My God, WHAT THE HELL IS WRONG WITH ME!? I like Tadase-kun, and he looks way older than me! AAHH!"_

While Amu was internally freaking out, Ikuto had stepped behind her. He bent down close to her, his mouth near her ear.

"What are you so uptight for?" he asked her deviously. Amu jumped slightly, she had been so busy with her thoughts she didn't even notice when he had walked behind her. Amu's face became slightly redder. Then Ikuto did the last thing she expected him to. He wrapped his arms around her waist, and bit her ear seductively.

"W-WHAT WAS THAT FOR!?" Amu shrieked completely hysterical now.

"You looked like you might taste good"

"P-PERVERT!!"

Amu's characters were too shocked to do anything.

The blonde girl from earlier stormed over, "WHO THE HELL IS THIS, IKUTO!!" she screeched at the blue-haired boy and the pink-haired girl in this arms.

Ikuto draped his arm around Amu's shoulders, much to the red-faced girl's discomfort. "Just a _friend_, Utau" He casually replied to Utau's screaming. Amu didn't like the way he said _friend_.

Utau held a snarl across her face, and her eyes kept darting from Ikuto to Amu. Ikuto had looked away from Amu for a moment to gaze at Utau, that silly smirk still on his features. Amu felt his grip around her loosen slightly, and using the opportunity, Amu nimbly ducked and darted away from Ikuto's clutches. With only the single thought of escaping the two older people, Amu started to run in the first direction she faced, but as she took her first step away, Amu gasped as she felt her toe connect with an outcropping brick.

Time seemed to slow down, as Amu first felt her feet lose their place, and then her body followed soon after. Everything was erased from her mind, except the primal instinct to protect herself as much as possible, and Amu threw her hands out in front of her to break her fall as much as possible. Although, as soon as the movement had taken place, Amu instantly realised her mistake.

Amu's amber eyes widened as she watched her hard-worked-on biscuits slip from her outstretched hands, and flew forward into the air. The royal-coloured ribbon untied from its loose position, and the lid opened.

An expression of shock drifted onto Amu's face as she stared at the cookies flowing out of the box and onto the dirty ground. Not a moment later, Amu felt first her hands, and then her knees, followed by her side contacting the ground with a thud against her ribs.

The breath was knocked out of Amu for a moment, but it didn't take much longer for her to scramble to her feet and rush to the aid of the biscuits, even though it was far too late.

The treats were scattered all around her, the box laying open and slightly crumpled, the ribbon floating away in the wind. Whether it was from her aching hands and knees, or the shock at Tadase's birthday gift being ruined, Amu felt large droplets of tears form in her eyes. She tried to hold them in, but her glassy eyes quickly overflowed and a trail of tears fell down her cheeks.

Amu was just about to emit a loud sob, when her depressive daze was interrupted by the deep, booming yell of someone nearby.

"WHICH ONE OF YOU SCUMBAGS DID THIS TO AMU-CHAN?! YOU BETTER PREPARE YOURSELF FOR PAIN AND SUFFERING BY MY BLADE!"

Amu turned her head slowly to reveal a very, _very_ scary Nadeshiko.

A sinister spark had ignited itself within Nadeshiko and Temari's eyes, and their purple-ish hair flew backwards from some unknown wind. Within Nadeshiko's hands was a razor-sharp naginata, which glinted in the light with an acute shine.

Her eyes homed in on the blue-haired teenager almost instantly, and swinging her blade dangerously above her head, Nadeshiko charged at Ikuto with a howling war-cry.

Within seconds, Ikuto had gained an extra pair of ears, feline ears to be exact. Jumping back easily to narrowly avoid the deadly weapon being swung at him, Ikuto appeared to float through the air for a few seconds, before gravity brought him back down to the pavement.

Utau flinched slightly as the blade swished by, only a few centimetres away from her position. Quickly retreated backwards a few steps, she watched Nadeshiko make another move towards Ikuto. Normally, Utau would rush to the aid of the cat-eared boy, but judging by the calm and controlling look that was on Ikuto's face, she hardly deemed in necessary.

Ikuto effortlessly avoided another barrage of attacks from Nadeshiko, flipping and twisting, not letting a scratch be placed upon him. Neither of them tired, as the crazy girl continued to swing and thrust with as much vigour as she started with, and the part-feline continued to evade her.

He made no move to counter-attack at Nadeshiko, infuriating her further along with his dodging and cool look on his face.

"Damn you!" Nadeshiko howled at him, before making her most powerful swing yet, the naginata nothing but a blur in the air. This particular time, Ikuto almost had a bit of trouble dodging the attack. As the blade rushed towards him, the cat-boy began to shift his weight to the side, in preparation for the move. But his feet seemed to move sluggishly in comparison with the speed of the sword, and he had barely jumped out of range before it was swung in the same spot where Ikuto had been only seconds earlier. Wind rushed past his face, and the whistling as metal cut through the air sounded loudly.

Ikuto looked up to see a small lock of his hair floating away in the air, the only part of him that couldn't get away in time. Leaping back a fair distance away, Ikuto scowled at the small strand that was missing on his head.

Nadeshiko's weapon crashed into the ground from the force of her swing, causing a small crater to form in the once neat brickwork. Panting from the effort, she glared up at Ikuto.

"Ikuto," the sharp voice of Utau broke the silence of the battle, "I think you've had enough playing around. Let's go."

Merely nodding in apprehension, Ikuto and Utau began to walk away, without so much of a look backward.

"Hey, HEY! You can't just leave!" Nadeshiko shrieked after them. But leave they did.

Nadeshiko's flower clip popped back into its original shape, and she sighed from exhaustion of the character-change. Her naginata evaporated back to wherever it came from.

Amu watched wide-eyed from the same place where she had fallen, the battle had taken up her attention and her tears had stopped, but her face was still slightly wet. Nadeshiko's expression softened and she approached Amu, and kneeled down beside her amongst the scattered cookies.

"Are you hurt, Amu-chan?" she asked her friend worriedly.

"N-no…" Amu replied slowly, still shaken up, "I'm okay…". She hung her head low, strawberry bangs covering most of her face. "I guess Tadase-kun won't be getting a present from me…"

"Oh Amu-chan…" her three charas muttered, worry and sadness for not being able to help her filling their small voices.

"That's not true," Nadeshiko contradicted, a light smile on her face, "Just because you don't have a large gift like that, doesn't mean you can't give Hotori-kun the wonderful pleasure of your presence. I'm sure he would love to have you and I visit him today!"

"You r-really think so…?" Amu uttered softly, but small edge of hope could be heard in her quivering voice.

"I do. And if it makes you feel better, I'll put your name on the card I brought as well, so we can give it to him together". Standing to her feet again, Nadeshiko offered her hand to Amu. "Here" she said, referring to her outstretched palm.

Timidly, Amu reached up and grabbed her hand, and allowed herself to be pulled to her feet. Wiping what was left of her tears, Amu risked a small laugh.

"Thank you, Nadeshiko"

**..::++_- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -_++::..**

Amu's previous nervousness returned with vengeance as her and Nadeshiko entered the vicinity of Tadase's home. Smoothing the folds in her skirt repeatedly to try and wipe away the fear that was building up, Amu gulped as they stopped outside the main gate leading to Tadase's Japanese-style residence.

Smiling, Nadeshiko gently prodded the doorbell, causing a series of chimes to echo around the house. Gulping, Amu waited for what seemed like an eternity for Tadase to come to the door.

A metallic grinding was heard as the doorknob turned, and the curious face of Tadase soon emerged from behind the door. "Hello?" he answered, wondering about the visitors.

"Happy Birthday, Hotori-kun!" Nadeshiko happily congratulated him, while presenting him with a white envelope which contained the card.

"H-Happy Birthday…" Amu stuttered after Nadeshiko, her eyes concentrating on her feet as if they were the only things left in the world.

Tadase's eyes lit up, and he smiled warmly. "Thank-you, Fujisaki-san and Hinamori-san!" He accepted the card as politely as usual, and took a step back to clear the doorway. "Please, come inside for a while."

Nadeshiko nodded cheerily at Tadase, and then slipped of her boots before entering his home. Amu followed after, removing her shoes and placing them neatly beside Nadeshiko's at the doorway. As she walked past the prince, she stole a quick sideways glance at him. Tadase caught her eye for a moment, and gave her that dazzling smile of his. Amu almost immediately felt her face light up red, and returned to staring at the ground again.

**..::++_- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -_++::..**

The three sat silently on the outside porch that was facing Tadase's back garden. Their Shugo Chara's were off somewhere by themselves, and almost all was silent. The constant trickle of a water fountain could be heard from somewhere amongst the plants and scenery. Despite the quietness, it was comfortable, just the company of friends.

"Y-You have a nice house, Tadase-kun" Amu nervously commented, trying to start a conversation.

"Thankyou, Hinamori-san. This place has been in my family for quite a while now."

"Ah, that makes sense…"

They went back to being silent, and Amu began fiddling with the edge of her skirt again.

"Oh!" Tadase suddenly exclaimed, his eyes flicking up, "I just remembered! I have something for you, Hinamori-san" he said, facing Amu who was seated beside him.

"For m-me?!" Amu stammered, surprised.

"I'll be right back." Tadase then quickly stood, and hurried back into his house, to retrieve whatever it was for Amu.

"Nadeshiko, do you know what he's going to give me?" Amu asked her blue-haired friend slightly nervously.

"Hmm, maybe." She replied evasively. Amu sighed, knowing she wouldn't anything else out of her, and waited a little impatiently for Tadase to return.

It took less than a minute for Tadase to find the gift, and then he seated himself beside Amu again. "Here" he simply said, presenting her with a hand-sized, white container, in the shape of an egg.

Amu took the egg precariously, in case it could break easily. Starring at it for a few seconds, she then gripped the lid, and opened up the mysterious gift.

Fragments of reflected light danced on Amu's amazed face as the sun bounced of a beautifully crafted locket. The locket was, ironically enough, shaped like a lock, and had perfectly clear crystal making a flower-like pattern on the front.

Remembering that it was for her, Amu began stuttering to Tadase, "A-Are you sure this is for me… I… I can't accept this!"

Tadase shook his head, "It's your now. It belonged to you far before we even met."

Nadeshiko smiled knowingly at Amu, taking amusement at her incredulous expression.

"But… I…" Amu feebly protested, but her sentence faded away and instead Amu began to inspect the lock more thoroughly. She gently lifted it out of the case by a delicate, golden chain, and Amu watched in sway gently in front of her face.

"It's the Humpty Lock," Nadeshiko picked up where Tadase left off, "we were instructed by the founding King to give it to a person with three Shugo Chara."

"Founding King?" Amu asked curiously, her eyes still watching the lock intently.

This time Tadase was the one to speak, "Yes, the founding King was the one who created the Guardians."

Amu nodded slowly, processing the information so she would not forget later on. She looked at the locket for a moment more, and turned to Tadase shyly, "Can I put it on…?" the still-nervous-and-shy girl asked cautiously. So much for having a 'Cool-and-spicy' character, but it was Amu's wish to be an average girl.

"Of course, there was no need to ask, it belongs to you"

"R-Right" Amu was still getting used to the idea of owning something so beautiful. She undid the clasp gently, and placed the chain around her neck. Fiddling with the clip for a while, trying to connect it again while it was unseeable behind her hair, Amu finally had the locket hanging rightfully around her neck.

"It seems to suit you, Amu-chan!" Nadeshiko commented, clapping her hands together. Tadase nodded in agreement.

Amu just stared down at the lock, and for some reason she felt reassured by its weight against her collar.

"Well," said Nadeshiko as she stood up from the porch and dusted off her skirt, "I think Amu-chan and I have stayed long enough!"

Tadase smiled. "Right, I guess so. Please come to visit again sometime"

"We will."

"Goodbye, Tadase-kun" Amu sweetly said before heading off after Nadeshiko.

"Goodbye, Hinamori-san"

**..::++_- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -_++::..**

Nadeshiko and Amu collected their Shugo Chara, who had been with Kiseki, and now strolled casually away from Tadase's residence.

"Neh, Amu-chan! Where'd you get that pretty locket from?" Ran asked curiously as she noticed the shiny necklace dangling from Amu's neck. Miki and Suu quickly noticed after Ran, and Amu's three charas had soon gathered around the lock and were watching it with admiring faces.

"Good, symmetrical design, both the gold and the glass are perfectly smooth and shining… Definitely some fine work!" Miki commented with her artistic approval of the object.

"Shiny, desu!" Suu squeaked out in her high-pitched voice, gazing in wonder at the sparkling lock.

"Ah, this? Tadase gave it to me… Apparently it has always belonged to me or something…" Amu explained, even though she was still confused herself over the ownership.

"The prince gave it to you?!" Ran shrieked loudly, "he definitely must like you Amu-chan!"

"W-WHAT?! The prince liking _me_?! Waaaaah…!" squealed Amu, her face becoming beet red. Nadeshiko laughed openly at Amu's embarrassment caused by her sporty, pink chara.

"Yay! Go Amu-chan!"

"Raaaaan, no! Stop it…!" Amu complained and yelled at her chara. Miki and Suu giggled joined in the chanting, turning Amu's discomfort into annoyance, and then anger. Even Temari was cheering from the sidelines, and of course being careful not to ruffle her kimono too much.

"Argh!" Amu cried out in frustration. _'Why are my charas so annoying?!'_

**..::++_- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -_++::..**

**A/N:** Now it will probably be forever until my next update *sighs*

I will try and write more! And I have some interesting ideas for some other fanfictions as well… so maybe I will try and write those too .


End file.
